1 of 2
Photo credit: Mark Seliger
Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band
2 of 2
Flatley: Lord of the Dance
This week: Trevor Noah, the blues, a Neil Young tribute and dancing robots.
Thursday, Nov. 8
Jim James w/ Alynda Segarra from Hurray for the Riff Raff @ The Pabst Theater, 7:30 p.m.
Certainly the hair and the beard have something to do with it, but there’s always been something messiah-like about My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James, who looks as if he could’ve had a great career as some kind of cult leader if he hadn’t decided to dedicate his life to rock ’n’ roll. James’ first solo album, 2013’s Regions of Light and Sound of God, doubled down on the spiritual mysticism that shades his best work with My Morning Jacket, and 2016’s Eternally Even was even more intriguingly psychedelic, drawing from trip-hop, soul, prog-rock and world music. By comparison, his latest effort, this year’s Uniform Distortion, is more straightforward, a guitar-heavy record in the spirit of My Morning Jacket’s early work.
Friday, Nov. 9
Trevor Noah
Trevor Noah @ The Riverside Theater, 7:30 and 10 p.m.
Editor's Note: Due to illness, Trevor Noah's two shows at the Riverside Theater have been postponed per Pabst Theater Group. An announcement will be made when a rescheduled date is confirmed.
Taking over “The Daily Show” from Jon Stewart, who pioneered the brand of smart, loaded political comedy that now dominates late night television, was never going to be easy for anybody. And, sure enough, the Comedy Central institution has lost some of its cultural clout since it was taken over by South African comedian Trevor Noah in 2015. Each night it can be counted on to give, at best, the third- or fourth- funniest take on the latest political outrage, but if nothing else, Noah has proven a charismatic host, and he’s given the show a global perspective it lacked during the Stewart years. This week’s chaotic midterm elections should give Noah plenty of material to work with when he returns to The Riverside Theater for this pair of shows.
|
|
The Music of Cream @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
Unlike other classic rock bands, Cream never reunited for an endless round of reunion tours. The influential blues rock trio broke up in 1968 and, save for some fluke reunion shows in 2005, they stayed that way. Any hopes of another reunion were put to rest when singer/bassist Jack Bruce died of liver disease in 2014 at age 71. That leaves the band’s progeny to carry on their legacy. For this show, drummer Ginger Baker’s son Kofi Baker and Bruce’s son Malcolm will be joined by Eric Clapton’s nephew Will Johns (the son of Led Zeppelin engineer Andy Johns) to pay tribute to the group’s music. It’s hardly the same as seeing the original group live, but the lineup is certainly more credentialed than most cover bands.
AJR w/ Robert DeLong @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
Through their sound is decidedly modern—filled with electronic pulses and modern dubstep flourishes—there’s something old-fashioned about AJR, a New York pop trio formed by brothers Adam, Jack and Ryan Met. The trio’s pop sensibilities borrow from the spirit of The Beach Boys, and that devotion to classic pop earned them a fan in Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo, who cameoed on their upbeat single “Sober Up” from their latest album, 2017’s The Click. The record fuses dance and alternative sensibilities.
Colors & Chords @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 6 p.m.
Four musical acts will team up with prominent visual artists at this benefit for Islands of Brilliance, a Milwaukee non-profit that offers creative, tech-centric classes for children and young adults with autism. Test Rosa, Suitcase Junket, Golden Coins and Jay Anderson and Honey Voodoo will each perform a 40-minute set accompanied by an artist. There will also be food from vendors including The Tandem and Sabrosa Café.
Saturday, Nov. 10
Neil Young
Kneel to Neil: A Neil Young Tribute @ Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, 7:30 p.m.
Few figures loom larger in the folk community than Neil Young, a songwriter whose fusion of rock, folk and twang paved the way for countless acts. At the annual Kneel to Neil benefit, now in its 14th year, local folk, rock and country musicians cover Young’s songbook to raise money for 91.7 WMSE and Young’s Bridge School for handicapped children. This year’s marathon lineup includes Ramblin’ Deano (Waco Brothers), Viper & His Famous Orchestra, Saebra & Carlyle, The Cripple Creek Fairies (Platinum Boys/Sat. Nite Duets), Vincent Kircher (of Jaill), Lyric Advisory Board, RedHawks, The Carolinas, Chris Haise Band, Cat Ries (of NO/NO) and Hello Death.
Alan Parsons Live Project @ The Pabst Theater, 7:30 p.m.
Roger Troutman and T-Pain are better remembered as pioneers of vocal manipulation, but long before their careers took off Alan Parsons was using the vocoder, incorporating it into his 1976 Alan Parsons Project song “The Raven.” Of course, as a dutiful prog-rock band, the Alan Parsons Project used all sorts of cutting-edge (and sometimes not so cutting edge) studio technology during the ’70s. These days, Parson—who earned his first studio credit when he was just 18 years old (on The Beatles’ Abbey Road, of all records)—continues to tour with an altered version of his signature band, now called the Alan Parsons Live Project. In 2014, the Alan Parsons Project released a “new” album, The Sicilian Defence, a chess-themed record that was originally recorded in 1979 but shelved by their label.
Flatley: Lord of the Dance
Flatley: Lord of the Dance @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.
With its unique variety of Irish, tap and contemporary dance, Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance has dominated the world of dance since its debut in 1996. While Flatley retired from dancing in 2016, he continues to mentor performers touring worldwide. This performance, billed as Dangerous Games, updates the Lord of the Dance formula with large flat screens, elaborate lighting effects, acrobats and dancing robots. Who needs Flatley when you have dancing robots?
88Nine Labs: Music Hackathon @ Northwestern Mutual Cream City Labs, 10 a.m.
As part of Startup Week Milwaukee, Radio Milwaukee has teamed up with the Capitol260 Innovation Center for this hackathon, inviting developers, designers, students, engineers and musicians to generate ideas for music discovery and distribution and come up with ways to better connect fans and radio stations with their audience. Developers will have access to 14,000 audio streaming tracks from artists like Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra and Rihanna to work with, and winning teams can take home prizes including $1,000 in cash, Summerfest Power Passes and a final-round interview to participate in gener8tor’s 12-week accelerator program.
Sunday, Nov. 11
Photo credit: Mark Seliger
Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band
Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band w/ The Peterson Brothers @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
Kenny Wayne Shepherd is 41 now, but to many blues fans, he’ll always be remembered as the teen virtuoso who injected new life into the genre in the ’90s. In the years since his breakthrough, Shepherd fell into a holding pattern of releasing nondescript blues-rock before reinventing himself as a true bluesman, a defender of a dying art. For his 2007 album 10 Days Out: Blues From the Backroads, Shepherd hunted down and recorded with aging, unheralded blues greats. On his latest effort, 2017’s Lay It On Down, he looks beyond the blues, dabbling in soul, country and classic rock. It’s one of his most varied records yet.
